Ferguson delighted with outcome of ‘must-win’ match

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson praised the belief of his players after they snatched a 2-1 victory over Shrewsbury.

Frankie Kent headed an 87th-minute decider as Posh saw off Shrewsbury in a battle of two teams clinging on to faint play-off hopes.

Sky Bet League One leading scorer Jonson Clarke-Harris had earlier given Posh a 16th-minute lead with his 21st goal of the campaign from Joe Ward’s delivery.

But they surrendered that advantage after only five minutes as Tom Flanagan made up for the blow of being overlooked for the latest Northern Ireland squad by slamming in his first goal of the campaign.

But Posh eventually prevailed as Kent steered in a Ward free-kick to close to within seven points of the top six with games in hand.

Ferguson said: “I’m delighted with a very, very important win for us. It was a must-win considering the last couple of results.

“We had to be patient and we maybe got a wee bit of luck with the late goal, but we’ll take it as we’ve not had much of that this season.

“We were in complete control of the game at 1-0 up. If it had stayed that way, it would have inevitably opened up which would have suited my players.

“But we conceded another ridiculous goal which completely changed the momentum of the game and as a team we have to be stronger in those situations.

“We tried everything during the second half. The credit goes to the players for having the belief to keep going and eventually we got the winner.

“The key at this stage of the season is getting results. The important bit now is having the mentality to dig them out.”

Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill said: “We didn’t deserve to be beaten – that’s for sure.

“I thought Peterborough were the better team in the first half and we were the better side in the second.

“When the game got back to 1-1, we just couldn’t find that second goal. Had we got it, I think we would have gone on to win the game.

“Tom Bayliss and Matthew Pennington both had good chances and the boys seem to think there was a penalty on Che Dunkley at the end.

“We spoke about Peterborough’s delivery into our box so we’re disappointed to concede two goals from set plays as that doesn’t normally happen.

“It was a great finish from Tom for our goal and I thought he was excellent tonight considering he wasn’t called up to the Northern Ireland squad.

“That would obviously have been a disappointment for him considering he was one of their best players in their last game.”